Week of 4/4/11 ABC stands as Monday's most-watched network

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Overall: During the week of 4/4/11, as Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy aired in repeat and Desperate Housewives was pre-empted, ABC still placed 3 of the Top 20 TV programs in Adults 18-49, with Dancing with the Stars (#4), DWTS Results (#11) and Castle (#19). The Net claimed 4 of the Top 20 most-watched television programs overall, including 2 of the Top 6, and #2 DWTS, which topped Fox’s American Idol – Thursday for the 3rd week in a row:  DWTS – #2, DWTS Results – #6, Castle – #13 and Body of Proof – #16.    For the 3rd time in 4 weeks, ABC grew its overall audience year to year.  In fact ABC was the only major network to build on the year-ago week.


Monday: Standing as Monday’s most-watched network for the 4th week in a row, ABC delivered another decisive win on the night, outdrawing second-place CBS with its coverage of the 2011 NCAA Basketball Men’s Championship game by a wide margin (+3.5 million). Leading each of its half-hours in viewers and ranking as Monday’s most-watched TV show overall for the 3rd week running, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars won its time period over second-place CBS by 9.9 million viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49. 

In fact it was ABC’s 7th consecutive week to rank #1 in the time slot in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  Despite the stiff competition, DWTS’ audience climbed from its first hour to its second hour, gaining 1.9 million viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49.  Outdrawing its year-ago telecast, DWTS generated its biggest audience ever against the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.  Opposite the NCAA Basketball Championship, ABC’s Castle stood as the #1 TV series in the 10 o’clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  In fact it was the 2nd most-watched regular program on the night, behind only DWTS.  ABC’s Castle overshadowed the season finale of Harry’s Law by 3.7 million viewers and +100% in Adults 18-49.   

Tuesday: With the season finale of No Ordinary Family, DWTS Results Show and Body of Proof, ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched network on Tuesday night to CBS, topping NBC by 4.4 million viewers and Fox by 7.8 million viewer. Building year to year for the 3rd straight week, the Net grew its audience from the same night last year (4/6/10), over an all-original schedule (DWTS Results/Lost/V), by 1.7 million viewers.  From 8-9pm against CBS’ top-rated NCIS and the first hour of NBC’s 2-hour The Biggest Loser: Couples, ABC’s season finale of No Ordinary Family attracted the show’s biggest audience and equaled its highest Adult 18-49 rating in nearly 3 months – since 1/18/11. The show rose sharply over the penultimate episode of its freshman season (3/26/11), surging by 63% in Total Viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49. 

Leaping to the top of the 9 o’clock hour for the 2nd consecutive week, ABC’s DWTS Results Show ranked #1 in its time period in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The ABC dancing results show stood as Tuesday’s #1 broadcast show across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). TV host Wendy Williams was the second celebrity to be eliminated from the show this season. DWTS Results Show posted strong year-to-year gains, surging by 30% in Total Viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49 over the same night last year.  In the 10 o’clock hour against established first-run dramas on CBS (The Good Wife) and NBC (Parenthood), ABC’s Body of Proof finished #1 for the 2nd week in a row in Total Viewers and key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). Exhibiting stronger lead-in retention week to week, ABC’s Body of Proof beat out CBS’ The Good Wife (+20%) and NBC’s Parenthood (+26%) by wide margins among Adults 18-49. Body of Proof built substantially over its most-recent telecast this past Sunday (4/3/11), gaining 32% in Total Viewers and 20% in Adults 18-49. The new drama delivered 5.4 million more viewers to the time period for ABC, over the year-ago night with original drama programming (V).

Wednesday: From 8-9pm, against the first hour of Fox’s American Idol and CBS’ Survivor: Redemption Island, ABC’s back-to-back repeats of The Middle continued to outperform NBC’s original Minute To Win It by wide margins, outdelivering the NBC gamer by 39% in Total Viewers and by 30% in Adults 18-49.  At 9pm opposite the third half-hour of Idol and CBS’ original Criminal Minds, ABC’s encore Modern Family defeated its repeat competition by big advantages, besting NBC’s Law & Order: SVU in Total Viewers (+80%) and Adults 18-49 (+150%).   ABC’s Modern Family replay was up year to year in both viewers and young adults.  In the 9:30pm half-hour despite going up against the Idol-fueled debut of Breaking In, ABC’s Mr. Sunshine surged week to week by 18% in Total Viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49.  Mr. Sunshine boosted the time period year to year for ABC by 31% in Total Viewers and by 14% Adults 18-49.

On average during its freshman season run in Wednesday’s 10 o’clock hour against stiff drama competition on CBS and NBC, Off the Map improved the time period year to year for ABC by double-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+11%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%), over original drama programming last season. 

Friday: ABC led the pack on Friday among Adults 18-49, tying CBS’ original drama line-up (Chaos/CSI: NY/Blue Bloods) and besting NBC’s originals (season finale of Who Do you Think You Are?/Dateline) by 8% and Fox’s encores (Kitchen Nightmares/Fringe) by 56%. ABC turned in a 13-week high on Friday in Adults 18-34, while equaling its top Adult 18-49 number since the same date – since 1/7/11. At 8pm, ABC’s Shark Tank ranked #2 against its network rivals in the hour with Adults 18-49, leading the second week of CBS’ Chaos by 33%.  Building young adult audience throughout its broadcast, the ABC unscripted series gained 8% from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. ABC’s Shark Tank posted a season-high on the night with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? beat out its newsmagazine competition across all key Adult demos, leading NBC’s Dateline by 38% in Adults 18-34, by 17% in Adults 18-49 and by 6% in Adults 25-54.  In addition, What Would You Do? defeated CBS’ original CSI: NY by a solid margin in Adults 18-34 (+10%).

ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? was up from its most-recent original two weeks ago by 7% in Total Viewers, by 8% in Adults 18-49 and by 6% in Adults 25-54.   In addition, the ABC newsmagazine matched its highest rating since mid-January with Adults 18-34 and since mid-February in Adults 25-54 – since 1/21/11 and 2/18/11, respectively. ABC’s 20/20 finished #1 in the 10 o’clock hour for the 2nd week in a row among Women 18-49.  20/20 featured  Elizabeth Vargas’ yearlong investigation into the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church.  20/20 posted its highest Adult 18-34 number on the night in more than 2 months and its strongest Women 18-34 number in nearly 5 months – since 1/28/11 and 11/19/10, respectively.

Sunday: ABC stood as the 2nd-most-watched network on Sunday to CBS with its Masters Golf Tournament primetime overrun, outdrawing NBC by 1.1 million viewers and Fox by 2.8 million viewers. The Network also earned #2 position on Sunday with Adults 25-54 and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).   During the 7 o’clock hour, ABC’s repeat America’s Funniest Home Videos took second place in its time period to a Masters Golf-boosted CBS in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating out NBC’s original Dateline by 51% and 78%, respectively.  The encore telecast of the broad-appealing series finished #1 in its slot with Women 18-34, and made ABC the top-rated broadcaster in the hour with Kids 2-11. 

Surging over its lead-in at 8pm in viewers (+2.8 million) and young adults (+50%) and building audience from start to finish, ABC’s season finale of Secret Millionaire continued to dominate its freshman unscripted competition on NBC. From 8-9pm, ABC’s Secret Millionaire outdelivered NBC’s America’s Next Great Restaurant by 5.8 million viewers and by 100% in Adults 18-49.  In addition, the Secret Millionaire ranked as the #1 series in its time period in Women 18-49 on all 6 of its airings .  Drawing a larger audience for ABC in the hour year to year on all 6 of its telecasts, on average during its freshman season Secret Millionaire delivered impressive time period improvement in Total Viewers (+39%) and Adults 18-49 (+32%), over the same nights last season. 

(source: ABC)